Our next Conservative Policy Forum (CPF) will be on Wednesday 6th December at 7pm in the Belmont Conservative Club. You can find out more about the CPF here.
Ed Young, former speechwriter for David Cameron and Chief of Staff to the Conservative Party Chairman, has agreed to come and talk to us on Youth issues at the Conservative Policy Forum next Wednesday. At the 2017 General Election, Ed stood as the Conservative Candidate for York Central and is currently the Corporate Communications Director at Tesco PLC. Ed’s biography of DISRAELI written with Douglas Hurd was published by Orion in June 2013 and was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson prize. He is currently working on a life of Lord Randolph Churchill and a short book on speeches and speechwriting.
These are some of the questions we will be discussing:
A Lost Generation
- How can we make the Conservative Party once again the party of young people?
- How should we tackle the central issues facing younger voters: (1) tuition fees / student debt, (2) house price unaffordability, and (3) costs of private renting?
- How do we restore the faith of younger people, the majority of whom voted to remain in the EU and for whom Brexit is in danger of being an alienating moment instead of an inspiring moment of national renewal?
- If you could introduce up to three specific policies to signal that we are the party of the next generation, what would they be?
Tuition Fees
- Given that taxpayers already have to pay for students’ unpaid loans, how might the Treasury better contribute towards the costs of students’ higher education?
- Is the current system working fairly? Is the 6% compound interest rate fair? Is the £9,000 cap on fees right?
- How do we get the right balance between supporting the brightest students from disadvantaged backgrounds and allowing our top universities to remain world class?
- What other changes could be made to improve the funding of higher education and its transparency?
Affordable Rents
- How can Conservatives provide cheaper rented housing so that our young people can save?
- How might we liberate ourselves from the assumption that owning a house is the only way to have a stake in society? How can we deliver a new deal for the next generation?
The meeting will be followed by Christmas drinks when you will be able to continue the discussion or change to any other topic! If you are not yet a Member we would still like to hear your views and you might find yourself joining by the end of the evening.
A summary of responses to this paper will be sent to the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Policy Board and relevant Ministers within a month of the closing date for submissions.
As the guest speaker is likely to increase demand it would be helpful if you could register for this free event here.